NFC-enabled apparatus and method of operation thereof

ABSTRACT

An NFC-enabled apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a touch screen display and a near field communication (NFC) module comprising an NFC antenna and an NFC controller. In response to tagging between the NFC-enabled apparatus and the external NFC terminal, an NFC communication channel is established between the NFC-enabled apparatus and the external NFC terminal for data communication therebetween.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO ANY PRIORITY APPLICATIONS

Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic priority claimis identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed with the presentapplication are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR 1.57.

BACKGROUND Field

The present disclosure relates to the provision of information to amobile terminal using near field communication (NFC).

Description of the Related Art

Advertising is to provide characteristic information about a specificcommodity or service (hereinafter referred to as the “commodity”) topotential consumers and customers in order to promote the sales anddistribution of the commodity, and corresponds to one-way communication.

Advertising media includes a variety of media such as wallpaper, aposter, a signboard, street facilities, a leaflet, radio, a movie, TV, aweb banner, a popup advertisement, a magazine, a newspaper, a sticker,and a shopping cart.

However, such advertising media utilize still images, and therefore theamounts of information to be provided are limited. Although moving imageinformation is utilized recently, it is difficult to repeatedly view andanalyze the moving image information which is played.

Meanwhile, mobile terminals are communication devices which have theadvantage of being able to wirelessly connect to a mobile communicationsystem, and wirelessly connect to and communicate with desiredcounterparties anytime and anywhere while moving. Such mobile terminalsare always carried because of the characteristic of communication thatcommunication may be made anytime and anywhere, but have low utilizationrate because the period for which they are actually utilized forcommunication is short.

Therefore, in order to increase the utilization rate of mobileterminals, additional functionalities, such as E-book, MP3, camera,recorder, scanner, multimedia player, and game machine functionalities,have been added to the mobile terminals. Recently, mobile phones towhich tablet computer functionality has been added have been introducedunder the name of smartphones. The development of mobile phones to whichfunctionality is added tends to continue.

Furthermore, short-distance wireless communication functionality, suchas Bluetooth, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), and/or Near FieldCommunication (NFC), is added to mobile terminals, and therefore themobile phones can perform tag functionality for managing the historyinformation of commodities, smartcard functionality for performingelectronic payment, and/or Peer-to-Peer (P2P) functionality forperforming one-to-one communication.

Conventional advertising media have the disadvantages of instantaneouslyproviding information, and being unable to review the content of anadvertisement when a person moves away from a location where theadvertisement is made. Conventional moving image-based advertising mediaalso have the disadvantages of being unable to review the content of anadvertisement over time, being unable to represent information using amoving image at times, and being unable to review the content of anadvertisement when a person moves away from a location where theadvertisement is made.

That is, conventional advertising media is disadvantageous in that it isdifficult to review the content of an advertisement when a person movesaway from a location where the advertisement is made, a still imageadvertisement can represent a relatively limited amount of information,and a moving image advertisement cannot represent information whichneeds to be reviewed and analyzed for a long time, such as a railwayschedule.

Therefore, there is a need for a technology which receives the contentof an advertisement from an advertisement medium, records theadvertisement in a mobile terminal, and allows a user to repeatedlyreview and analyze the content of the advertisement when the user movesaway from the advertising medium and needs to repeatedly review andanalyze the content of the advertisement for a long time.

Mobile terminals are communication devices which are capable ofwirelessly connecting to and communicating with desired counterpartiesanytime and anywhere while moving within service areas. Such mobileterminals which are always carried to prepare for communication that maybe made anytime and anywhere have low utilization rate because theperiod for which they are actually utilized for communication is short.The utilization rate of mobile terminals tends to be increased by addingadditional functionalities, such as E-book, MP3, camera, recorder,scanner, multimedia player, and game machine functionalities, to themobile terminals Recently, the utilization rate of mobile terminals isfurther increased by adding NFC functionality for performing tagfunctionality, smartcard functionality and P2P functionality.

Since current mobile terminals tend to be equipped with NFCfunctionality, a mobile terminal will be described as being an NFCmobile terminal in the following description.

Furthermore, thanks to the development of communication technology, thedevelopment of manufacturing technology and the improvement of massproduction technology, the price of NFC mobile terminals and thecommunication cost have been reduced, and each adult has about one NFCmobile terminal with the advent of the personal communication era.

Meanwhile, a purchaser who purchases a commodity has prior knowledgeabout the corresponding commodity and purchase the commodity selected atneed, while a vendor generally perform the promotion or advertising ofhis or her commodity so that the commodity can be selected by manypurchasers.

Purchasers may hesitate or may not immediately make up his or her mindwhen there is a plurality of commodities of the same type or a similartype.

A barcode or a Quick Response (QR) code indicative of information, suchas the name, manufacturer, price, release date, expiration date, serialnumber and location of a commodity, is represented on a commodity.

Conventionally, information about a commodity, such as theadvertisement, use and functionality of the commodity, is provided usingadvertising leaflets, specifications and promotion materials in the formof a discontinuous and concentrated event.

Therefore, it is difficult for a user or a purchaser to obtain theadvertisement information of a commodity in such an event where thecommodity is advertised. Furthermore, even when a person participates insuch an event and becomes aware of the advertisement information of acommodity, the person forgets the information over time, and thereforethe effect of such advertising is very low.

Furthermore, since specific information about a commodity, such as theadvertisement information, expiration date and use of the commodity, isfrequently changed and updated, it is difficult to provide accurateinformation to purchasers.

Therefore, there is a need for the development of a technology which iscapable of providing information about each commodity (hereinafterreferred to as “commodity information”) including, for example, theadvertisement information, promotion information, name, release date,expiration date, manufacturer, serial number and price information ofthe commodity using a QR code or a barcode (hereinafter referred to asan “optical code”) which is represented on the commodity.

In particular, there is a need for the development of a technology whichis capable of providing commodity information, included in an opticalcode represented on each commodity, to an NFC mobile terminal which isbeing carried by an individual person using NFC communication, so that apurchaser can rapidly check accurate commodity information.

The foregoing information included in this section is only to providebackground of the invention and does not constitute an admission ofprior art.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the invention provides an apparatus comprising: a displaydevice configured to display a plurality of contents comprising a firstcontent and a second content; a near field communication (NFC) modulecomprising at least one NFC antenna configured to provide data relatedto the plurality of contents for sending to an NFC-enabled mobileterminal when the NFC-enabled mobile terminal tags the at least one NFCantenna and establishes an NFC channel between the NFC-enabled mobileterminal and at least one NFC antenna; and an operation controlconnected to the display device and the NFC module for providing theplurality of contents to the display device and further for providingthe data related to the plurality of contents to the NFC module, whereinthe apparatus is configured to allow selection of one of the first andsecond contents while both the first and second contents are beingdisplayed on the displayed device, wherein upon selection of the firstcontent, the operation control is further configured to cause the NFCmodule to send, to the NFC-enabled mobile terminal, the first datarelated to the first content in response to tagging on the at least oneNFC antenna with the NFC-enabled mobile terminal.

In the foregoing apparatus, the operation control may be configured tocontrol the display device and the NFC module such that the at least oneNFC antenna may be caused to send, to the NFC-enabled mobile terminal,second data related to the second content when the NFC-enabled mobileterminal tags the at least one NFC antenna while the display device isdisplaying the second content. The operation control may be configuredto receive the plurality of contents and the data related to theplurality of contents from a content management server that is externalto the apparatus. The operation control may be further configured tocontrol the display device and the NFC module such that the displaydevice and the NFC module are synchronized with each other in displayingthe plurality of contents and in providing the data related to theplurality of contents.

In the foregoing apparatus, the display device may comprise atouch-active screen configured to allow selection of one of theplurality of contents by touch, wherein the operation control may befurther configured to control the display device and the NFC module suchthat the NFC module may be caused to send, to the NFC-enabled mobileterminal, the first data related to the first content in response totagging with the NFC-enabled mobile terminal after the first content maybe selected by touch while the display device may be displaying theplurality of contents comprising the first content. The display devicemay comprise a touch-active screen configured to allow selection of oneof the plurality of contents by touch, wherein the operation control maybe further configured to control the display device and the NFC modulesuch that the NFC module may be caused to send, to the NFC-enabledmobile terminal, second data related to the second content in responseto tagging with the NFC-enabled mobile terminal in case no content maybe selected while the display device may be displaying the plurality ofcontents comprising the first content.

In the foregoing apparatus, the at least one NFC antenna may comprise afirst NFC antenna and a second NFC antenna, wherein the first NFCantenna may be configured to be loaded with the first data related tothe first content for sending upon tagging with an NFC-enabled mobileterminal, wherein the second NFC antenna may be configured to be loadedwith second data related to the second content for sending upon taggingwith an NFC-enabled mobile terminal. The display device, the at leastone NFC antenna and the operation control are installed in an integratedbody. The at least one NFC antenna may be provided adjacent to thedisplay device. The apparatus may further comprise a code displayconfigured to display at least one code related to at least one of theplurality of contents displayed on the display device, wherein theoperation control may be further configured to control the displaydevice and the code display such that the code display may be caused todisplay a first code related to the first content when the displaydevice displays the first content.

In the foregoing apparatus, the first content may comprise a movingimage, wherein the first data related to the first content may comprisedata configured for causing to display the same moving image of thefirst content on the NFC-enabled mobile terminal. The first content maycomprise a multimedia content. The first content may comprise anadvertisement for a first commodity, wherein the first data related tothe first content may further comprise data configured for causing todisplay another content related to the first commodity. The NFC modulemay be configured to operate in a card mode and in a read mode, whereinthe NFC-enabled mobile terminal may be configured to operate in a cardmode and in a read mode, wherein the NFC module may be programmed tosend a mode change request to the NFC-enabled mobile terminal whentagging of the NFC-enabled mobile terminal with the at least one NFCantenna is made while the NFC-enabled mobile terminal is in its cardmode and the NFC module is in its read mode, wherein the NFC module maybe further programmed to change from its read mode to its card mode uponreceipt, from the NFC-enabled mobile terminal, of a mode changeconfirmation indicating that the NFC-enabled mobile terminal has changedits mode from its card mode to its read mode.

Another aspect of the invention provides a digital signage systemcomprising: the foregoing apparatus according to one aspect of theinvention; a content management server external to the apparatus andconfigured to supply, to the apparatus, the plurality of contents andthe data related to the plurality of contents. The foregoing system mayfurther comprise a first NFC-enabled mobile terminal configured toreceive, from the at least one NFC antenna, the first data related tothe first content upon tagging with the at least one NFC antenna whilethe display device is displaying the first content.

In the foregoing system, the first NFC-enabled mobile terminal may beconfigured to operate in a card mode and in a read mode, wherein the NFCmodule may be configured to operate in a card mode and in a read mode,wherein the NFC module may be programmed to send a mode change requestto the first NFC-enabled mobile terminal when tagging of the firstNFC-enabled mobile terminal with the at least one NFC antenna is madewhile the first NFC-enabled mobile terminal is in its card mode and theNFC module is in its read mode, wherein the NFC module may be furtherprogrammed to change from its read mode to its card mode upon receipt,from the first NFC-enabled mobile terminal, of a mode changeconfirmation indicating that the first NFC-enabled mobile terminal haschanged its mode from its card mode to its read mode. The operationcontrol may be configured to control the display device and the NFCmodule such that the display device and the NFC module are synchronizedwith each other in displaying the plurality of contents and in providingthe data related to the plurality of contents.

In the foregoing system, the display device may comprise a touch-activescreen configured to allow selection of one of the plurality of contentsby touch, wherein the operation control may be further configured tocontrol the display device and the NFC module such that the NFC modulemay be caused to send, to the first NFC-enabled mobile terminal, firstdata related to the first content in response to tagging with the firstNFC-enabled mobile terminal after selection of the first content bytouch while the display device may be displaying the first content. Thedisplay device may comprise a touch-active screen configured to allowselection of one of the plurality of contents by touch, wherein theoperation control may be further configured to control the displaydevice and the NFC module such that the NFC module may be caused tosend, to the first NFC-enabled mobile terminal, first data related tothe first content in response to tagging with the first NFC-enabledmobile terminal even if no content is selected via the touch-activescreen while the display device is displaying the first content. The atleast one NFC antenna may comprise a first NFC antenna and a second NFCantenna, wherein the first antenna may be configured to be loaded withthe first data related to the first content for sending upon taggingwith the first NFC-enabled mobile terminal, wherein the second antennamay be configured to be loaded with second data related to the secondcontent for sending upon tagging with the first NFC-enabled mobileterminal.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method of distributingadvertisements. The method comprising: providing the foregoing apparatusaccording to one aspect of the invention; displaying a plurality ofcontents comprising a first content and a second content on the displaydevice, wherein the first content may be displayed on the display devicewhile the second content is also displayed on the display device;receiving an input of selecting one of the first and second contentswhile both the first content and the second content are being displayedon the display device; providing data related to a selected one of thefirst and second contents to the NFC module such that the first databecomes available on the at least one NFC antenna when the first contentis selected by the input and that the second data becomes available onthe at least one NFC antenna when the second content is selected by theinput; in response to tagging on the at least one NFC antenna with anNFC-enabled mobile terminal, establishing an NFC channel between the atleast one NFC antenna and the NFC-enabled mobile terminal; and sendingthe data related to the selected content to the NFC-enabled mobileterminal via the NFC channel, wherein the first data may be sent to theNFC-enabled mobile terminal when the first content is selected by theinput whereas the second data may be sent to the NFC-enabled mobileterminal when the second content is selected by the input.

The foregoing method may further comprise: receiving the first andsecond contents from a content management server; and receiving thefirst and second data from the content management server. The foregoingmethod may further comprise: supplying the plurality of contents to theapparatus; and supplying data related to the plurality of contents tothe apparatus. In the foregoing method, the operation control maycontrol the display device and the NFC module such that the displaydevice and the NFC module are synchronized with each other in displayingthe plurality of contents and in providing the data related to theplurality of contents. The display device may comprise a touch-activescreen configured to allow selection of one of the plurality of contentsby touch, wherein the operation control controls the display device andthe NFC module such that the NFC module may be caused to send, to theNFC-enabled mobile terminal, the first data in response to tagging withthe NFC-enabled mobile terminal when the first content is selected bytouch and that the NFC module may be caused to send, to the NFC-enabledmobile terminal, the second data in response to tagging with theNFC-enabled mobile terminal when the first content is selected by touch.

In the foregoing method, the display device may comprise a touch-activescreen configured to allow selection of one of the plurality of contentsby touch, wherein the operation control may control the display deviceand the NFC module such that the NFC module may be caused to send, tothe NFC-enabled mobile terminal, data related to a predetermined one ofthe plurality of contents in response to tagging with the NFC-enabledmobile terminal when no content is selected while the display device isdisplaying the plurality of contents. The at least one NFC antenna maycomprise a first NFC antenna and a second NFC antenna, wherein the firstantenna may be loaded with the first data and the second antenna may beloaded with the second data while the first and second contents aredisplayed on the display device.

In the foregoing method, the first data related to the first content maycomprise data configured for causing to display the same first contenton the NFC-enabled mobile terminal. The NFC module may be configured tooperate in a card mode and in a read mode, wherein the NFC-enabledmobile terminal may be configured to operate in a card mode and in aread mode, wherein establishing the NFC channel may comprise: detectingtagging on the at least one NFC antenna with the NFC-enabled mobileterminal; sending, from the apparatus, a mode change request to theNFC-enabled mobile terminal when the tagging is made while theNFC-enabled mobile terminal is in its card mode and the NFC module is inits read mode; receiving, from the NFC-enabled mobile terminal, a modechange confirmation indicating that the NFC-enabled mobile terminal haschanged its mode from its card mode to its read mode; and changing theNFC module's mode from its read mode to its card mode.

An aspect of the present invention is to provide an advertisementinformation provision system which is capable of receiving the contentof an advertisement from an advertisement output medium in the form ofdata, recording the content of the advertisement in a mobile terminal,allowing a user to repeatedly play back and view the content of theadvertisement when the user has moved to a remote location and needs toreview it, and allowing the user to review the content of theadvertisement over time.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide an advertisementinformation provision system which is capable of outputting a variety oftypes of advertisements using a single advertisement output medium.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a commodityinformation provision system which is capable of recognizing an opticalcode represented on a commodity, converting commodity information,included in the optical code, into NFC tag applet information, andtransmitting the NFC tag applet information to an NFC mobile terminal sothat a user can view the commodity information.

Still another aspect of the present invention is to provide an NFC taggeneration device and an NFC tag transmission method which are capableof receiving content from a content output device in the form of tagdata and recording the tag data in a mobile terminal.

Still another aspect of the present invention is to provide an NFC taggeneration device and an NFC tag transmission method which are capableof outputting a variety of types of pieces of content using a singlecontent output device and setting a suitable transmission method forcorresponding content.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a system forproviding advertisement information includes a mobile terminalconfigured to operate in card mode in its initial stage, switch to readmode in response to a request for mode-switching, search for and outputAID information, and receive data of advertisement media using tagging;a panel unit configured to send the request for mode-switching to themobile terminal, switch from read mode in its initial stage to card modein response to a request for mode-switching from the mobile terminal,output received the advertisement media, and, radiate and transfer theadvertisement media as data when the mobile terminal performs thetagging; and an advertisement management server configured to search foror create in real time the advertisement media, and output and providethe advertisement media, together with a matched tag applet in responseto a request from the panel unit.

The panel unit may include a panel operation unit configured to receivethe advertisement media and the matched tag applet from theadvertisement management server and record the advertisement media andthe matched tag applet in an assigned area; and an advertisement outputunit configured to, under the control of the panel operation unit,output the advertisement media as multimedia signal, radiate the matchedtag applet, and radiate the advertisement media as data when the mobileterminal tags the radiated tag applet.

The advertisement output unit may include an output unit for outputtingthe advertisement media as the multimedia signal under the control ofthe panel operation unit; and an antenna unit configured to selectivelyradiate the matched tag applet and the advertisement media under thecontrol of the panel operation unit; wherein the antenna unit isconfigured to, after radiating the matched tag applet, detect thetagging of the mobile terminal and perform transfer of the advertisementmedia to the panel operation unit.

The panel operation unit may include a process unit configured toconnect to the advertisement management server, and receive theadvertisement media provided from the advertisement management server; atag applet unit configured to record and store the advertisement mediaand the matched tag applet in respective assigned areas under thecontrol of the process unit; an NFC controller unit configured to, whenthe advertisement output unit detects the tagging of the mobileterminal, output the advertisement media as data under the control ofthe process unit, the NFC controller unit configured to, when the mobileterminal performs the tagging, send the request for mode-switching tothe mobile terminal to switch to read mode, and switch to the card modeafter determining that the mobile terminal is switched to read mode; andan advertisement signal processing unit configured to output theadvertisement media as a multimedia signal under the control of theprocess unit.

The output unit may include a plurality of output units and the antennaunit may include a plurality of antenna units; the plurality of outputunits and the plurality of antenna units may be paired into a pluralityof pairs; an output unit of each pair may connect to the advertisementsignal processing unit of the panel operation unit and output theadvertisement media; and an antenna unit of the each pair may connect tothe NFC controller unit of the panel operation unit, and selectivelyradiate the matched tag applet and the data of the advertisement media.

The advertisement signal processing unit may output a plurality ofadvertisement media at different times under the control of the processunit; and the NFC controller unit may output the tag applet which ismatched when the advertisement signal processing unit outputs theadvertisement media, and output the data of the advertisement media ifthe tagging of the mobile terminal is detected when the matched tagapplet is output.

The advertisement management server may include a control unitconfigured to receive a signal of the request of the tag applet from thepanel unit; an advertisement radiation DB unit configured to, under thecontrol of the control unit, create or search for the advertisementmedia in real time, create the matched tag applet and transfer theadvertisement media and the matched tag applet to the panel unit; and atag applet DB unit configured to record the advertisement media and thetag applet matched to the advertisement media in respective tables underthe control of the control unit.

The advertisement management server may further include an advertisementtag applet unit configured to create the tag applet under the control ofthe control unit.

The mobile terminal may further include a scanner unit configured toscan a QR code and a barcode; the panel unit further may include a QRcode analysis unit configured to analyze the QR code, a barcode analysisunit configured to analyze the barcode, and a code radiation unitconfigured to radiate tag applets of the QR code and the barcode; andthe advertisement management server may further include a QR code tagapplet unit configured to create the tag applet of the QR code and abarcode tag applet unit configured to create the tag applet of thebarcode.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a system forproviding commodity information, includes an apparatus unit configuredto include a panel unit for capturing and displaying an optical code ofa commodity, and an operation unit for recognizing the optical codecaptured by the panel unit and converting the optical code intocommodity data; and a server unit configure to receive the commoditydata transmitted by the operation unit, convert the commodity data intoa tag applet, and transmit the tag applet to the operation unit; whereinthe operation unit records the tag applet transmitted by the serverunit, convert the tag applet into an NFC signal, and output the NFCsignal to the panel unit; and wherein the panel unit transmits the tagapplet to a tagging NFC mobile terminal using NFC communication.

The panel unit may include a camera unit configured to capture theoptical code including a QR code of the commodity; an output unitconfigured to output and display the optical code captured by the cameraunit; and an NFC antenna unit configured to wirelessly transmit the NFCsignal output by the operation unit.

The operation unit may include an QR analysis unit configured to receivethe optical code captured by the panel unit, recognize and analyze a QRcode, and convert the QR code into the commodity data; a process unitconfigured to receive the commodity data from the QR analysis unit,output the commodity data to the server unit, and receive the tag appletfrom the server unit; an NFC controller unit configured to, under thecontrol of the process unit, convert the tag applet into the NFC signaland output the NFC signal to the panel unit; and a tag applet recordingunit configured to record or delete the tag applet under the control ofthe NFC controller unit.

The panel unit may further include a barcode scanner unit configured toscan the optical code including a barcode of the commodity.

The operation unit may further include a barcode analysis unitconfigured to receive the optical code from the panel unit, recognizeand analyze a barcode, and covert the barcode into commodity data.

The server unit may include a tag applet issuance unit configured toreceive the commodity data from the operation unit and convert thecommodity data into the tag applet; a commodity information DB unitconfigured to receive the commodity data from the operation unit andsearch for corresponding commodity information; and a control unitconfigured to perform control so that the commodity information found bythe commodity information DB unit is applied to the tag applet issuanceunit and the commodity data and the matched commodity information intothe tag applet.

The panel unit may include a camera unit configured to capture anoptical code including a QR code of the commodity; an output unitconfigured to output and display the optical code captured by the cameraunit; and an NFC antenna unit configured to wirelessly transmit a tagapplet, output by the operation unit, as an NFC signal; wherein theoutput unit outputs and displays the commodity information output by theoperation unit, or outputs and displays the optical code captured by thecamera unit.

The operation unit may include an QR analysis unit configured to receivethe optical code captured by the panel unit, recognize and analyze a QRcode, and convert the QR code into commodity data; a process unitconfigured to receive the commodity data from the QR analysis unit,output the commodity data to the server unit, and receive the tag appletfrom the server unit; an NFC controller unit configured to, under thecontrol of the process unit, convert the tag applet into the NFC signaland output the NFC signal to the panel unit; a tag applet recording unitconfigured to record or delete the tag applet under the control of theNFC controller unit; and an output control unit configured to convertthe tag applet into a multimedia signal and output the multimedia signalto the panel unit; wherein the process unit outputs the tag applet toboth the NFC controller unit and the output control unit.

The panel unit may further include a barcode scanner unit configured toscan an optical code including a barcode of the commodity.

The operation unit may further include a barcode analysis unitconfigured to receive the optical code from the panel unit, recognizeand analyze a barcode, and covert the barcode into commodity data.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, a systemfor providing commodity information, includes an apparatus unitconfigured to include a panel unit for capturing and displaying anoptical code of a commodity, and an operation unit for recognizing theoptical code captured by the panel unit, converting the optical codeinto commodity data, and converting the commodity data into a tag appletand output the tag applet to the panel unit; and wherein the panel unittransmits the tag applet to a tagging NFC mobile terminal using NFCcommunication.

The system may further include a server unit configured to include acommodity information DB unit for connecting to the operation unit andrecording a plurality of pieces of commodity information linked usinglink information.

The panel unit may include a camera unit configured to capture anoptical code including a QR code of the commodity; an output unitconfigured to output and display the optical code captured by the cameraunit or the commodity information output by the operation unit; and anNFC antenna unit configured to wirelessly transmit the tag applet as anNFC signal.

The operation unit may include an QR analysis unit configured to receivethe optical code captured by the panel unit, recognize and analyze a QRcode, and convert the QR code into the commodity data; a process unitconfigured to receive the commodity data from the QR analysis unit; anNFC controller unit configured to, under the control of the processunit, convert an applied signal into an NFC signal and output the NFCsignal to the panel unit; a tag applet recording unit configured torecord or delete the applied signal under the control of the NFCcontroller unit; an output control unit configured to convert theapplied signal into a multimedia signal and output the multimedia signalto the panel unit; and a tag applet issuance unit configured to convertthe commodity data, provided by the process unit, into the tag applet.

The process unit may be configured to analyze the commodity data,separate link information from the commodity data, and provide the linkinformation to the server unit.

The server unit may include a commodity information DB unit configuredto search for commodity information corresponding to the linkinformation; and a tag applet issuance unit configured to receive thecommodity information found by the commodity information DB unit andconvert the commodity information into the tag applet.

The panel unit may further include a barcode scanner unit configured toscan the optical code including a barcode of the commodity.

The operation unit may further include a barcode analysis unitconfigured to receive the optical code from the panel unit, recognizeand analyze the barcode, and covert the barcode into commodity data.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, an NFC taggeneration device includes a content output unit configured to outputone or more pieces of content, and receive a selection of content usinga user's manipulation or predetermined default setting; an operationcontrol unit for searching for a tag data corresponding to the selectedcontent; an NFC controller unit configured to set transmission modecorresponding to the tag data; a memory unit configured to store thecontent and the tag data; a communication interface unit configured toupdate information about the content or tag data with information aboutnew content or tag data; and an NFC antenna unit configured to transmitthe tag data using NFC communication; wherein the operation control unittransfers a control signal requesting switching to transmission modecorresponding to the selected content to the NFC controller unit.

The NFC tag may further include at least one tag recording unit fortemporarily recording tag data to be transmitted to an outside; whereinthe operation control unit transfers a recording control signalrecording the found tag data in the tag recording unit to the NFCcontroller unit.

The tag recording unit may be included in one of more selected fromamong the operation control unit, the NFC controller unit and the memoryunit.

The content output unit may include a touch screen; and the content maybe output via the touch screen, and the content to be transmitted may beselected by touching the touch screen.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, an NFC tagtransmission method including: outputting one or more pieces of contentwhich can be played back to a first terminal; selecting content to betransmitted from among the one or more pieces of content; activatingtransmission mode corresponding to the selected content; searching fortag data corresponding to the content; establishing a data transmissionsession between a second terminal and the first terminal; andtransmitting the tag data from the second terminal to the firstterminal.

The NFC tag transmission method, may further include running anapplication corresponding to the transmission mode between theactivating and the searching.

The NFC tag transmission method may further include requesting, at thesecond terminal, tag data from the first terminal between the outputtingand the selecting, and the selection of the content is performed byusing a predetermined method in response to the request from the firstterminal; activating transmission mode corresponding to the selectedcontent; searching for tag data corresponding to the content; andtransmitting the tag data from a second terminal to the first terminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more clearly understood from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofan advertisement information provision system according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a detailed functional block diagram illustrating theconfiguration of an advertisement management server according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a detailed functional block diagram illustrating theconfiguration of a panel unit according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a detailed functional block diagram illustrating theconfiguration of a panel unit according to a second embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of operating theadvertisement information provision system according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofan advertisement information provision system according to anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a detailed functional block diagram illustrating theconfiguration of an advertisement management server according to anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a detailed functional block diagram illustrating theconfiguration of a panel unit according to a third embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 9 is a detailed functional block diagram illustrating theconfiguration of a panel unit according to a fourth embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofa commodity information provision system according to a fifth embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofa commodity information provision system according to a sixth embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofa commodity information provision system according to a seventhembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofa commodity information provision system according to an eighthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofa commodity information provision system according to a ninth embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofa commodity information provision system according to a tenth embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a signal flow diagram illustrating the operation of thecommodity information provision system according to the fifth embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a signal flow diagram illustrating the operation of thecommodity information provision system according to the sixth embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an NFC tag generation device and amobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the configuration of an NFC tag generationdevice according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an NFC tag transmission methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an NFC tag transmission methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference now should be made to the drawings, in which the samereference numerals are used throughout the different drawings todesignate the same or similar components.

The present invention may be modified in a variety of ways, and mayinclude a variety of embodiments. Specific embodiments will beillustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in detail below.However, it should be appreciated that this is not intended to limit thepresent invention to the specific embodiments, but the present inventionincludes all modifications, equivalents and alternatives which fallwithin the spirit and technical range of the present invention.Descriptions of well-known functions and constructions which have beendeemed to make the gist of the present invention unnecessarily vaguewill be omitted below.

In the present invention, an advertisement medium is described as beinga multimedia signal including an image(s), a character(s), and a soundsignal, and an operation applet is described as being an applicationprogram which performs control for a selected application.

That is, a mobile terminal includes a plurality of application programs,each of the application programs is referred to as an operation applet,and the application programs are identified by respective pieces ofapplet identifier (AID) information. Furthermore, the same applets maybe assigned different pieces of applet identifier (AID) information whentheir versions or manufacturers are different.

When a mobile terminal communicates with a counterparty mobile terminal,or a mobile terminal operates a specific application program inconjunction with a counterparty mobile terminal in a one-to-onecorrespondence, they should include and operate the same applets havingthe same applet identifier (AID) information.

Communication mode in which signals are transmitted and received in NFCcommunication includes card mode and read mode. The card mode isdescribed as being mode in which recorded information signals areprovided to a counterparty, and the read mode is described as being modein which the recorded information signals of a counterparty are read.

A barcode is a linear one-dimensional (1D) code which is formed bycombining a plurality of white and black bars having different widthsand can be easily read by a computer, and is widely used to representthe unique number and/or price information of a commodity.

A Quick Response (QR) code is a matrix-type two-dimensional (2D) codewhich is formed by arranging small square dots equally in lateral andvertical directions and can be read by a computer. A QR code may have onits each side dots the number of which ranges from 21 to 177, can recorda maximum of 23,648 bits, can be recovered thanks to its supplementaryproperty when part of its data is damaged, and can be recognized or readin all directions of 360 degrees.

Tagging or tag is described as being the state of being close to acounterparty without electrically direct contact.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofan advertisement information provision system 10000 according to anembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the advertisement information provision system10000 according to the embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed in detail. The advertisement information provision system10000 includes a mobile terminal 11000, a panel unit 12000, and anadvertisement management server 13000.

The mobile terminal 11000 is a mobile communication terminal capable ofwirelessly accessing a mobile communication system and immediatelycommunicating with a desired counterparty ubiquitously, and records aplurality of operation applets, identified by applet identifier (AID)information, in an assigned memory area.

The mobile terminal 11000 operates in card mode in its initial stage,tags the panel unit 12000, searches for a record of designated appletidentifier (AID) information from the plurality of recorded appletidentifier (AID) information in response to a request from the panelunit 12000, and notifies the panel unit 12000 of search results once therecord of designated AID information has been retrieved.

In the following description of the present invention, the mobileterminal 11000 will be described as recording a designated operationapplet, and an applet corresponding to applet identifier (AID)information requested by the panel unit 12000 will be described as anoperation applet capable of receiving advertisement media.

The fact that the mobile terminal 11000 has retrieved AID informationdesigned by the panel unit 12000 means that the mobile terminal 11000and the panel unit 12000 can activate the same operation applet and thenperform data communication without suffering from errors.

The mobile terminal 11000 wakes up an operation applet corresponding tothe designated applet identifier (AID) information, that is, anoperation applet capable of receiving advertisements, so that it canenter an active state in response to a mode-switching request from thepanel unit 12000, switches the operating mode from the initial card modeto read mode, and notifies the panel unit 12000 of the results of thewake-up and the mode-switching.

In this case, the mobile terminal 11000 additionally transmits amode-switching request signal, requesting switching to card mode, to thepanel unit 12000.

Furthermore, the mobile terminal 11000 receives advertisement media datafrom the panel unit 12000 while staying in a tagged state, and notifiesthe panel unit 12000 of the completion of the reception if the receptionis completed without undergoing errors.

The panel unit 12000 includes a panel operation unit 12100 and anadvertisement output unit 12200. The panel operation unit 12100 includesa process unit 12110, a tag applet unit 12120, an NFC controller unit12130, and an advertisement signal processing unit 12140. Theadvertisement output unit 12200 includes an output unit 12220 and anantenna unit 12240.

When a mobile terminal 11000 tags the panel unit 12000 in initial readmode in which the information of a counterparty is read, the panel unit12000 request a search for corresponding applet identifier (AID)information to check whether an operation applet for receiving anadvertisement has been recorded in the mobile terminal 11000, andrequests that the mobile terminal 11000 switches to read mode whenreceiving search results.

The process unit 12110 which constitutes a part of the panel operationunit 12100 of the panel unit 12000 requests a tag applet, includingadvertisement media, from the connected advertisement management server13000, and receives the tag applet.

In the following description, a tag applet will be described as beingmatched to a corresponding advertising medium, and advertisement mediawill be described as multimedia including a still image(s), a movingimage(s), a character(s), a sound(s), and/or an image(s), but notlimited thereto.

The process unit 12110 records the received advertisement media and tagapplet in respective assigned areas of the tag applet unit 12120. Thereare a variety of types of tag applets depending on the contents andpurposes of advertisements, and the tag applet unit 12120 records tagapplets which are matched to a plurality of various advertisement media.

Since the process unit 12110 performs control so that any advertisementmedia selected from among those recorded in the tag applet unit 12120 isapplied and output to the advertisement signal processing unit 12140,the advertisement signal processing unit 12140 classifies the appliedadvertisement media as a multimedia signal including an image(s), asound(s), or a character(s) and outputs the multimedia signal to theoutput unit 12220 of the advertisement output unit 12200.

The output unit 12220 includes a video unit for outputting video signalsand character signals and an audio unit for outputting sound signals.

Meanwhile, the process unit 12110 performs control so that a tag appletmatched to an advertisement medium output by the advertisement signalprocessing unit 12140 can be read from the tag applet unit 12120, and beapplied to and output by the NFC controller unit 12130.

Since the NFC controller unit 12130 outputs the applied tag applet tothe antenna unit 12240 of the advertisement output unit 12200, theantenna unit 12240 can radiate a signal which resonates with, forexample, a radio frequency in the 13.56 MHz band.

In an embodiment, when the mobile terminal 11000 tags the antenna unit12240, the antenna unit 12240 detects the tagging of the mobile terminal11000 and provides notification to the NFC controller unit 12130 of thepanel operation unit 12100, and the NFC controller unit 12130 requests asearch for applet identifier (AID) information to check if the AIDinformation of the operation applet which will receive an advertisementhas been recorded in the mobile terminal and outputs a signal requestingthe mode-switching of the mobile terminal 11000 if the corresponding AIDinformation has been retrieved and returned.

The NFC controller unit 12130 checks if the mobile terminal 11000 hasswitched to read mode in response to a mode-switching request, andperforms switching to card mode which provides recorded data when asignal requesting mode-switching is received from the mobile terminal11000.

When the switching to card mode has been performed, the NFC controllerunit 12130 searches for advertisement media, being currently output bythe output unit 12220, from the tag applet unit 12120 and then outputsthe advertisement media to the antenna unit 12240 under the control ofthe process unit 12110, and the antenna unit radiates data to the mobileterminal 11000.

Here, the output unit 12220 and the antenna unit 12240 may be pairedwith each other, and may output and radiate advertisement media of thesame content under the control and monitoring of the process unit 12110.

Therefore, when the output unit 12220 and the antenna unit 12240 form asingle pair in accordance with the embodiment, a plurality ofadvertisement media is output at different times. When output units12220 and antenna units 12240 form a plurality of pairs in accordancewith another embodiment, a plurality of advertisement media can besimultaneously output and provided via respective paths. The differentconfigurations according to the embodiment of the panel unit 12000 willbe described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawing.

The advertisement management server 13000 may create and provide aplurality of advertisement media in real time or search for and provideone or more of a plurality of recorded advertisement media in responseto a request from the panel unit 12000. The advertisement managementserver 13000 includes a control unit 13100, an advertisement radiationDB unit 13200, and a tag applet DB unit 13300. The configuration of theadvertisement management server 13000 will be described in detail belowwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a detailed functional block diagram illustrating theconfiguration of an advertisement management server 13000 according toan embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the advertisement management server 13000 will nowbe described in detail. The control unit 13100 controls and monitors theadvertisement radiation DB unit 13200 and the tag applet DB unit 13300so that created or retrieved advertisement media can be delivered inreal time when a signal requesting the provision of a tag appletincluding selected advertisement media is received from the panel unit12000.

When the advertisement radiation DB unit 13200 is controlled by thecontrol unit 13100 so that the advertisement radiation DB unit 13200generates advertisement media in real time, the advertisement radiationDB unit 13200 may receive a multimedia signal from the outside and thencreate a new advertisement medium in real time, may create a newadvertisement medium using a multimedia signal received from the outsideand an advertisement medium retrieved in real time, or may create a newadvertisement medium using a plurality of retrieved advertisement mediain real time.

The advertisement radiation DB unit 13200 may record the advertisementmedium, created in real time, in its own assigned area, and search forand reuse it later.

Furthermore, under the control of the control unit 13100, the tag appletDB unit 13300 creates a tag applet, which matches the advertisementmedium created by the advertisement radiation DB unit 13200, and at thesame time transmits it to the advertisement radiation DB unit 13200 andrecords it in its own assigned area.

Here, the tag applet is described as being an application program whichenables a counterparty to receive an advertisement medium which iscreated and radiated using an NFC wireless method.

The control unit 13100 controls the advertisement radiation DB unit13200, so that a created or retrieved advertisement medium is read. Thecontrol unit 13100 controls the tag applet DB unit 13300 so that a tagapplet which is matched to the advertisement medium is newly created ora corresponding retrieved tag applet is applied to the advertisementradiation DB unit 13200.

That is, according to an embodiment of the present invention, when theadvertisement radiation DB unit 13200 creates a new advertisementmedium, a new tag created by the tag applet DB unit 13300 is used. Incontrast, when the advertisement radiation DB unit 13200 retrieves anexisting recorded advertisement medium, an existing tag applet recordedin the tag applet DB unit 13300 is retrieved and used.

The advertisement radiation DB unit 13200 completes provision bytransmitting the created and retrieved advertisement medium and thecorresponding tag applet to the panel unit 12000 in real time under thecontrol and monitoring of the control unit 13100.

FIG. 3 is a detailed functional block diagram illustrating theconfiguration of a panel unit 12000 according to a first embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the panel unit 12000 will now be described indetail. The panel unit 12000 according to the first embodiment includesa panel operation unit 12100, and an advertisement output unit 12200.

The panel operation unit 12100 includes a process unit 12110, a tagapplet unit 12120, an NFC controller unit 12130, and an advertisementsignal processing unit 12140. The advertisement output unit 12200includes an output unit 12220, and an antenna unit 12240.

Here, the output unit 12220 and antenna unit 12240 of the advertisementoutput unit 12200 form a pair so that they output and radiate signals ofthe same content while operating in conjunction with each other.

That is, the output unit 12220 and the antenna unit 12240 whichconstitute the advertisement output unit 12200 output or radiate anadvertisement medium of the same content, form a pair, and havecorresponding paths over which data of the same content is transmitted.

The process unit 12110 which constitutes a part of the panel operationunit 12100 receives a corresponding tag applet matched to theadvertisement media from the advertisement management server 13000,records it in the assigned area of the tag applet unit 12120, andapplies it to the NFC controller unit 12130 and the advertisement signalprocessing unit 12140.

The NFC controller unit 12130 outputs a designated advertisement mediumto the antenna unit 12240 via a corresponding path in the form of dataunder the control and monitoring of the process unit 12110.

Furthermore, the advertisement signal processing unit 12140 outputs adesignated advertisement medium to the output unit 12220 via acorresponding path in the form of a multimedia signal under the controland monitoring of the process unit 12110.

The advertisement output unit 12200 outputs one or more designatedadvertisement media under the control of the panel operation unit 12100.It is apparent that when a plurality of advertisements are output,different advertisement media are output and radiated at differenttimes.

In the configuration according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention, a selected advertisement medium is output through the outputunit 12220 in the form of a multimedia signal, and, when the mobileterminal 11000 tags the antenna unit 12240, an advertisement medium ofcontent which is the same as the content of the advertisement mediumoutput through the output unit 12220 is provided in the form of data.

Accordingly, the mobile terminal 11000 receives the advertisementmedium, which output through the output unit 12220, in the form of databy tagging the antenna unit 12240 and then records it in its own memoryarea, so that there are the advantages of repeatedly viewing and/orlistening to the corresponding advertisement medium ubiquitously andanalyzing it over time.

In particular, there is the advantage of reviewing or comparing andanalyzing the content of the advertisement media (or media) when thecontent of an advertisement is summarized or the time tables of a movieor the prices of a product are compared with each other.

FIG. 4 is a detailed functional block diagram illustrating theconfiguration of a panel unit 12000 according to a second embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the panel unit 12000 will now be described indetail. The panel unit 12000 according to the second embodiment includesa panel operation unit 12100, and an advertisement output unit 12200.

The panel operation unit 12100 includes a process unit 12110, a tagapplet unit 12120, an NFC controller unit 12130, and an advertisementsignal processing unit 12140. The advertisement output unit 12200includes an output unit 12220 including first to n-th output units12221, 12222, . . . , and 12223, and an antenna unit 12240 includingfirst to n-th antenna units 12241, 12242, . . . , and 12243.

In an embodiment, the first output unit 12221 and the first antenna unit12241 form a pair, the second output unit 12222 and the second antennaunit 12242 form a pair, . . . , and the n-th output unit 12223 and then-th antenna unit 12243 form a pair.

The output unit 12220 and the antenna unit 12240 paired as describedabove output an advertisement medium of the same content via acorresponding path of each pair.

Since the process unit 12110 and tag applet unit 12120 of the paneloperation unit 12100 are the same as those of the first embodiment, adescription thereof is omitted to avoid a redundant description.

The NFC controller unit 12130 may separately manage the paths of theplurality of antenna units 12241, 12242, . . . , and 12243 whichconstitute the antenna unit 12240, and performs control so that theplurality of antenna units 12241, 12242, . . . , and 12243 output andradiate corresponding tag applets and so that when it is determined thatthe mobile terminal 11000 has performed tagging or tag reading on one ofthe antenna units 12241, 12242, . . . , and 12243, a matchedcorresponding advertisement medium is output in the form of data, thusbeing radiated via the corresponding antenna unit 12241, 12242 . . . ,or 12243.

Furthermore, the advertisement signal processing unit 12140 mayseparately manage the paths of the plurality of output units 12221,12222 . . . , and 12223 which constitute the output unit 12220, andperforms control so that a corresponding advertisement medium is outputin the form of a multimedia signal.

Here, the NFC controller unit 12130 and the advertisement signalprocessing unit 12140 are synchronized with each other and outputinformation corresponding to an advertisement medium of the same contentover a path to which a pair of the synchronized output unit 12220 andantenna unit 12240 of the advertisement output unit 12200 are connected.

The configuration of the embodiment of the present invention has theadvantage of selectively or simultaneously outputting one or moreadvertisements selected from among a plurality of a variety ofadvertisements using a single advertisement medium.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of operating theadvertisement information provision system according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the process of operating the advertisementinformation provision system according to the embodiment of the presentinvention will now be described in detail. The mobile terminal operatesin card mode in its initial stage, the panel unit operates in read modein its initial stage, and the panel unit outputs an advertisement mediumin the form of a multimedia signal and also outputs a tag applet matchedto the advertisement medium in the form of data in accordance with thefirst or second embodiment.

Card mode is described as being the state of providing recordedinformation to a counterparty, while read mode is described as being thestate of reading the information of a counterparty.

When a user desires to download the content of an advertisement mediumcurrently being advertised in order to repeatedly play back or analyzethe content of the advertisement medium output by an output unit of thepanel unit, the mobile terminal tags a corresponding antenna unit whichis paired with the output unit at step S2010.

The panel unit issues a request to the mobile terminal that it searchfor corresponding applet identifier (AID) and make a response at stepS2020 in order to check whether a corresponding operation applet capableof receiving the advertisement medium has been recorded in the mobileterminal.

The mobile terminal searches for the corresponding AID information andthen returns information about retrieved corresponding ID in response tothe request from the panel unit at step S2030. In this case, the panelunit requests mode-switching from the mobile terminal at step S2040. Therequest for mode-switching is to request that the mobile terminalswitches to read mode and operates in read mode.

When the mobile terminal receives a mode-switching request signal fromthe panel unit, the mobile terminal wakes up a corresponding operationapplet so that it is activated to receive the advertisement medium atstep S2050, and is automatically switched from the current card mode toread mode at step S2060.

That is, the mobile terminal automatically switches from current cardmode to read mode, and at the same time notifies the panel unit of themode-switching and requests that the panel unit automatically switch itsoperating mode from read mode to card mode at step S2070.

The panel unit switches the current operating mode of the mobileterminal from read mode back to card mode in response to the responseand the request at step S2080, and returns the results of the automaticmode-switching to the card mode to the mobile terminal at step S2090.

Furthermore, the panel unit requests to the advertisement managementserver a tag applet capable of downloading an advertisement mediummatched to the tagged antenna unit and the corresponding advertisementmedium from the advertisement management server at step S2100, and theadvertisement management server creates or searches for the requestedadvertisement medium and the matched tag applet in real time at stepS2110, and transmits and provides the advertisement medium retrieved orcreated in real time to the panel unit at step S2120.

The panel unit checks the advertisement medium and the matched tagapplet for errors while receiving the advertisement medium and thematched tag applet provided by the advertisement management server,records the received advertisement medium and matched tag applet in theassigned memory area of the tag applet unit if they have been receivedwithout any error, and monitors whether the mobile terminal performstagging for reading at step S2130.

In this case, if the corresponding advertisement medium and matched tagapplet have been already recorded in the memory area of the tag appletunit, the panel unit may not request transmission from the advertisementmanagement server.

When the panel determines that the mobile terminal is in a tag readingstate so that it can read the advertisement medium in the form of dataat step S2140, the panel unit transmits the matched tag applet and thecorresponding advertisement medium to the mobile terminal via the taggedcorresponding antenna unit in the form of data at step S2150.

The mobile terminal checks whether the data of the advertisement mediumhas been received without any error using the received tag applet atstep S2160, and, if the overall data of the advertisement medium hasbeen received without any error, the mobile terminal returns a receptioncompletion signal to the panel unit at step S2170.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofan advertisement information provision system 10000 according to anotherembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the advertisement information provision system10000 will now be described in detail. The advertisement informationprovision system 10000 includes a mobile terminal 11000, a panel unit12000, and an advertisement management server 13000.

Since the advertisement information provision system illustrated in FIG.6 is similar to that illustrated in FIG. 1, descriptions of differencestherebetween will now be mainly provided.

The mobile terminal 11000 has the functionality of immediately andwirelessly connecting to and communicating with a desired counterpartyubiquitously while moving, like the mobile terminal illustrated inFIG. 1. The mobile terminal 11000 further includes a scanner unit 1110which is capable of reading a barcode and a QR code by scanning them.

Here, the barcode and the QR code are described as being output by thepanel unit 12000. The scanner unit 1110 may include one or more whichare selected from among a configuration for optically scanning a barcodeand a QR code and a configuration for wireless receiving them.

The panel unit 12000 includes a panel operation unit 12100 and anadvertisement output unit 12200, like the panel unit illustrated in FIG.1.

The panel operation unit 12100 includes a QR code analysis unit 12150and a barcode analysis unit 12160. The advertisement output unit 12200includes a code radiation unit 12260.

The QR code analysis unit 12150 and the barcode analysis unit 12160apply the QR code or barcode to the NFC controller unit 12130 under thecontrol of the process unit 12110. The NFC controller unit 12130 appliesthe QR code or barcode to the code radiation unit 12260 of theadvertisement output unit 12200, so that the QR code or barcode can betransmitted.

Here, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the coderadiation unit 12260 may include a display unit which visually displaysa QR code or barcode. The code radiation unit may perform wirelessoutput.

The configuration of the panel unit 12000 will be described in detaillater with reference to the accompanying drawing and an embodiment.

The advertisement management server 13000 includes a control unit 13100,an advertisement radiation DB unit 13200, a tag applet DB unit 13300,like the advertisement management server illustrated in FIG. 1, andfurther includes an advertisement tag applet unit 13400, a QR code tagapplet unit 13500, and a barcode tag applet unit 13600.

The advertisement management server 13000 will be described in detailbelow with reference to the accompanying drawing.

FIG. 7 is a detailed functional block diagram illustrating theconfiguration of an advertisement management server 13000 according toanother embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the advertisement management server 13000 will nowbe described in detail. The advertisement management server 13000includes a control unit 13100, an advertisement radiation DB unit 13200,a tag applet DB unit 13300, an advertisement tag applet unit 13400, a QRcode tag applet unit 13500, and a barcode tag applet unit 13600.

Since the configuration and operation of the control unit 13100 and theadvertisement radiation DB unit 13200 are the same as those illustratedin FIG. 2, redundant descriptions thereof will not be given here.

The tag applet DB unit 13300 records all tag applets, being created orcreated by the advertisement management server 13000, under the controland monitoring of the control unit 13100. A tag applet selected bysearching may be reused.

The advertisement tag applet unit 13400 creates a tag applet whichmatches the advertisement media created by the advertisement radiationDB unit 13200, and then transmits the tag applet to the tag applet DBunit 13300, under the control of the control unit 13100.

Here, the tag applet is described as being an application program whichenables a counterparty to receive an advertisement media which iscreated and then transmitted via an NFC wireless connection.

The QR code tag applet unit 13500 creates a QR code tag applet under thecontrol of the control unit 13100, and the barcode tag applet unit 13600creates a barcode tag applet under the control of the control unit.

The QR code tag applet and the barcode tag applet created by the QR codetag applet unit 13500 and the barcode tag applet unit 13600,respectively, are applied to the advertisement radiation DB unit 13200,and then transmitted to the panel unit 12000, under the control of thecontrol unit 13100.

FIG. 8 is a detailed functional block diagram illustrating theconfiguration of a panel unit 12000 according to a third embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, the panel unit 12000 according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail. Thepanel unit 12000 according to the third embodiment includes a paneloperation unit 12100, and an advertisement output unit 12200, like thataccording to the first embodiment.

The panel operation unit 12100 includes a process unit 12110, a tagapplet unit 12120, an NFC controller unit 12130, an advertisement signalprocessing unit 12140, a QR code analysis unit 12150, and a barcodeanalysis unit 12160. The advertisement output unit 12200 includes anoutput unit 12220, an antenna unit 12240, and a code radiation unit12260.

Here, since the process unit 12110, tag applet unit 12120, NFCcontroller unit 12130 and advertisement signal processing unit 12140 ofthe panel operation unit 12100 and the output unit 12220 and antennaunit 12240 of the advertisement output unit 12200 are the same as thoseof the first embodiment, redundant descriptions thereof will be omittedhere.

The QR code analysis unit 12150 analyzes a received QR code or outputs acreated QR code to the advertisement output unit 12200 via the NFCcontroller unit 12130 under the control and monitoring of the processunit 12110.

The barcode analysis unit 12160 analyzes a received barcode or outputs acreated barcode to the advertisement output unit 12200 via the NFCcontroller unit 12130 under the control and monitoring of the processunit 12110.

The code radiation unit 12260 radiates an applied QR code or barcode viathe NFC controller unit 12130.

The configuration according to the embodiment of the present inventionhas the advantage of outputting QR code or barcode while outputting asingle advertisement medium or outputting a plurality of advertisementmedia at different times.

FIG. 9 is a detailed functional block diagram illustrating theconfiguration of a panel unit 12000 according to a fourth embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the panel unit 12000 according to the fourthembodiment of the present invention 12000 will now be described indetail. The panel unit 12000 according to the fourth embodiment includesa panel operation unit 12100 and an advertisement output unit 12200,like that of the second embodiment.

Since the process unit 12110, tag applet unit 12120, NFC controller unit12130 and advertisement signal processing unit 12140 of the paneloperation unit 12100 have same configurations and operations as those ofthe second embodiment and the QR code analysis unit 12150 and barcodeanalysis unit 12160 of the panel operation unit 12100 have sameconfigurations and operations as those of the third embodiment,redundant descriptions thereof will not be given here.

Furthermore, since the output unit 12220 and antenna unit 12240 of theadvertisement transmission unit 12200 have the same configurations andoperations as those of the second embodiment and the code radiation unit12260 of the advertisement transmission unit 12200 have the sameconfigurations and operations as those of the third embodiment,redundant descriptions thereof will not be given here.

A barcode is a linear one-dimensional (1D) code which is formed bycombining a plurality of white and black bars having different widthsand can be easily read by a computer, and is widely used to recordinformation about the name, management number, release date, expirationdate and price of a commodity.

A QR (Quick Response) code is a matrix-type two-dimensional (2D) codewhich is formed by arranging small square dots equally in lateral andvertical directions and can be read by a computer. A QR code may have onits each side dots the number of which ranges from 21 to 177, can recorda maximum of 23,648 bits, can be recovered thanks to its supplementaryproperty when part of its data is damaged, and can be recognized or readin all directions of 360 degrees. That is, QR codes can record largeramounts of information than barcodes, and may include link information.

The current QR code is a 2D code technology develop and released by acompany, and new-types of 2D code technologies may be developed by othercompanies in other forms.

The tagging or tag is described as being the state of recognizing theelectrical data of a counterparty near the counterparty withoutelectrically direct contact.

The NFC mobile terminal includes a plurality of application programs.Each of the application programs is referred to an applet. Theapplication programs are identified by respective pieces of appletidentifier (AID). Furthermore, the same applets may be assigneddifferent pieces of applet identifier (AID) when their versions ormanufacturers are different.

When a specific device including the NFC mobile terminal communicateswith or operates in conjunction with a counterparty device in aone-to-one correspondence, they should include and operate the sameapplets having the same AID information.

Furthermore, the same applets having the same AID information may bedivided into a main applet and a sub-applet. In the present invention,the main applet is referred to as a driving applet, and the sub-appletis referred to as a tag applet.

Therefore, NFC mobile terminals which operate with each other shouldinclude and operate the same applets, and therefore should have the sameAID information.

Communication mode in which signals are transmitted and received usingan NFC method includes card mode and read mode. The card mode isdescribed as being mode in which recorded information signals areprovided to a counterparty, and the read mode is described as being modein which information signals recorded in a counterparty are read.

In the present invention, content is described as being digital datainformation including one or more of media such as a character(s), astill image(s), a moving image(s), image(s), and sound(s), andmultimedia is described as being an output including one or more of asound(s), a moving image(s), a still image(s), and a character(s).

Furthermore, commodity information is described as including theadvertisement information, characteristic information, expiration date,use, price, etc. of a corresponding commodity.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofa commodity information provision system 1000 according to a fifthembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10, the commodity information provision system 1000according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed in detail. The commodity information provision system 1000includes an apparatus unit 1090 including a panel unit 1100 and anoperation unit 1200 and a server unit 1300.

The apparatus unit 1090 includes the panel unit 1100 and the operationunit 1200, and may be one selected from among a NFC reader and a mobileterminal, which is the same throughout the following description.

The panel unit 1100 may include a camera unit 1110, an output unit 1120,and an NFC antenna unit 1130. The operation unit 1200 may include a QRanalysis unit 1210, a process unit 1220, an NFC controller unit 1230,and a tag applet recording unit 1240. The server unit 1300 may include atag applet issuance unit 1310.

The camera unit 1110 includes a camera which captures an image of anoptical code (including, for example, a QR code) which is represented ona commodity 1400.

The output unit 1120 outputs and displays an image, captured by thecamera unit 1110, so that the image can be visually checked or viewed.Here, according to an embodiment of the present invention, it may bechecked whether such an optical code has been accurately scanned orcaptured by the camera unit 1110, using the output unit 2120.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the NFC antennaunit 1130 is configured to be turned to a wireless frequency in the13.56 MHz band, and wirelessly transmits and receives NFC signals.

The QR analysis unit 1210 receives the optical code captured by thecamera unit 1110, recognizes and analyzes a QR code, and converts the QRcode into commodity data.

The commodity data recognized, analyzed and obtained using the QR codeincludes a variety of information such as the name, manufacturer,management number, release date, expiration date, price, features, useand advertisement information of a commodity 1400, and may furtherinclude link information.

The process unit 1220 monitors and controls the functional units of thepanel unit 1100 and the operation unit 1200, receives the commodity datafrom the QR analysis unit 1210, and outputs the commodity data to theserver unit 1300.

Furthermore, the process unit 1220 receives a tag applet provided by theserver unit 1300, and applies the tag applet to the NFC controller unit1230.

The NFC controller unit 1230 operates in NFC read mode in its initialstage, and records information about the tag applet, provided by theprocess unit 1220, in the assigned area of the tag applet recording unit1240.

The NFC controller unit 1230 monitors the NFC antenna unit 1130 of thepanel unit 1100, and detects the tagging of the NFC mobile terminal1500.

When the NFC controller unit 1230 detects the tagging of the NFC mobileterminal 1500, it requests applet identifier (AID), requests thatmode-switching is automatically performed, and receives a responsesignal indicative of corresponding results.

Once the NFC controller unit 1230 has received the response signal, itis automatically switched from read mode to card mode, and outputs a tagapplet recorded in the tag applet recording unit 1240, therebytransmitting the tag applet to the NFC mobile terminal 1500 via the NFCantenna unit 1130.

In this case, when the NFC controller unit 1230 receives a responseindicative of the normal reception of the tag applet withouttransmission error from the NFC mobile terminal 1500, it deletes thecorresponding tag applet recorded in the tag applet recording unit 1240.That is, the information of the tag applet is allowed to be providedonly once.

The server unit 1300 includes the tag applet issuance unit 1310,receives the commodity data provided by the operation unit 1200,converts the commodity data into a tag applet using the tag appletissuance unit 1310, and transmits the tag applet to the operation unit1200.

The commodity 1400 may be any type of commodity, and an optical code maybe represented, for example, on the surface of the commodity 1400.

The NFC mobile terminal 1500 connects to the mobile communicationsystem, and communicates with a desired counterparty via a wirelessconnection. The NFC mobile terminal 1500 may include an NFCcommunication function and then perform NFC communications.Alternatively, the NFC mobile terminal 1500 may include only an NFCcommunication function.

The NFC mobile terminal 1500 includes a plurality of application appletsincluding a driving applet, and these applets are identified byrespective pieces of AID information. The driving applet is described asbeing an application program which transmits and receives commodityinformation.

The NFC mobile terminal 1500 operates in card mode in its initial stage,receives a signal requesting AID information and a signal requestingmode-switching from the operation unit 1200 via the panel unit 1100,provides retrieved AID information, wakes up and operates acorresponding driving applet, performs switching to read mode, andreturns a response signal indicative of results corresponding to arequest signal to the operation unit 1200 via the panel unit 1100.

After the NFC mobile terminal 1500 has been automatically switched toread mode, the NFC mobile terminal 1500 receives a tag applet from theoperation unit 1200, and outputs the tag applet via its own output unitusing an operating driving applet in the form of multimedia.

The configuration according to the fifth embodiment of the presentinvention converts commodity information recorded in a QR code or anoptical code represented on the surface of a commodity into a tag appletand transfers the tag applet to the NFC mobile terminal, and the NFCmobile terminal receives the tag applet using an NFC method and outputsthe commodity information using a waked driving applet in the form ofmultimedia content.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofa commodity information provision system according to a sixth embodimentof the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, the commodity information provision system 2000according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed in detail. The commodity information provision system 2000according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention includes anapparatus unit 2090 including a panel unit 2100 and operation unit 2200and a server unit 2300.

The apparatus unit 2090 includes the panel unit 2100 and the operationunit 2200, and may be any one of an NFC reader and a mobile terminal,which is the same throughout the following description.

The commodity information provision system 2000 according to the sixthembodiment is the same as the commodity information provision system1000 of the fifth embodiment except that the commodity informationprovision system 2000 according to the sixth embodiment further includesa barcode scanner unit 2140 and a barcode analysis unit 2250 compared tothe commodity information provision system 1000 of the fifth embodiment.

That is, since the configuration of the server unit 2300 including anoutput unit 2120, an NFC antenna unit 2130, a process unit 2220, an NFCcontroller unit 2230, a tag applet recording unit 2240, and a tag appletissuance unit 2310 is the same as that of the fifth embodiment exceptfor reference numerals, redundant descriptions will be omitted and onlynecessary descriptions will be given.

Therefore, the configurations of the unique barcode scanner unit 2140and barcode analysis unit 2250 will now be described in detail.

The camera unit 2110 captures a QR code, and applies the QR code to boththe output unit 2120 and the QR analysis unit 2210. The barcode scannerunit 2140 scans a barcode, and applies the scanned image to both theoutput unit 2120 and the barcode analysis unit 2250.

The barcode and the QR code may be the same in the type and content ofinformation to be recorded, and may be different in the amount ofinformation which can be recorded therein.

That is, the barcode is a computer-readable 1D code, and can record arelatively limited amount of information because the amount of datawhich can be recorded in the barcode is small. The QR code is acomputer-readable 2D code, and is widely used recently QR because it hasthe advantages of being able to record a maximum of 23,648 bits and alsorecording link information.

The configuration according to the sixth embodiment of the presentinvention converts commodity information recorded in optical codesincluding a barcode and a QR code represented on the surface of acommodity 1400 into a tag applet and transfers the tag applet to the NFCmobile terminal 1500, and the NFC mobile terminal 1500 receives the tagapplet using an NFC method and outputs the commodity information using awaked driving applet in the form of multimedia content. Theconfiguration according to the sixth embodiment is different from theconfiguration of the present invention in that the configurationaccording to the sixth embodiment uses both the barcode and the QR code.

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofa commodity information provision system 3000 according to a seventhembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 12, the commodity information provision system 3000according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed in detail. The commodity information provision system 3000according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention includes anapparatus unit 3090 including a panel unit 3100 and an operation unit3200 and a server unit 3300.

The apparatus unit 3090 includes the panel unit 3100 and the operationunit 3200, and may be any one selected from among an NFC reader and amobile terminal, which is the same throughout the following description.

The commodity information provision system 3000 according to the seventhembodiment is the same as the commodity information provision system1000 according to the fifth embodiment except that the output unit 3120of the panel unit 3100 is connected to both a camera unit 3110 and theoperation unit 3200, the operation unit 3200 further includes an outputcontrol unit 3250, and the server unit 3300 further includes a commodityinformation DB unit 3320 and a control unit 3330.

Since the other configurations of the commodity information provisionsystem 3000 according to the seventh embodiment is the same as thecommodity information provision system 1000 according to the fifthembodiment except for reference numerals, redundant descriptions will beomitted and only necessary descriptions will be given.

The output unit 3120 of the panel unit 3100 visually outputs videosignals captured by the camera unit 3110, thereby allows whether thecamera unit 3110 is accurately capturing an optical code to be checked,and also outputs a multimedia content signal selectively applied by theoperation unit 3200.

The output control unit 3250 of the operation unit 3200 applies the tagapplet, applied by the server unit 3300, to the output unit 3120 underthe control of the process unit 3220, thereby allowing the output unit3120 to be output in the form of a multimedia signal.

That is, the process unit 3220 provides the information of the tagapplet, applied by the server unit 3300, to both the NFC controller unit3230 and the output control unit 3250 at the same time.

The server unit 3300 receives the commodity data applied via theoperation unit 3200, and applies the commodity data to the tag appletissuance unit 3310 and the commodity information DB unit 3320.

The tag applet issuance unit 3310 converts the commodity data, appliedby the operation unit 3200, into a tag applet, as described in thedescriptions of the fifth and sixth embodiments.

The commodity information DB unit 3300 analyzes the commodity dataapplied by the operation unit 3200, and, if link information is includedin the commodity data, extracts the link information and connects to thecorresponding link, thereby searching for and providing thecorresponding commodity information.

The control unit 3330 performs control so that the correspondingcommodity information found by the commodity information DB unit 3320can be applied to the tag applet issuance unit 3310 and converted into atag applet. In this case, the control unit 3330 performs control andmonitoring so that the commodity information is converted into a tagapplet which matches commodity data included in an optical code.

The server unit 3300 provides the tag applet, issued and created by thetag applet issuance unit 3310, to the process unit 3220 of the operationunit 3200.

The configuration according to the seventh embodiment of the presentinvention converts commodity information, recorded in a QR code or anoptical code represented on the surface of a commodity, into a tagapplet, transfers the tag applet to the NFC mobile terminal, and alsosearches for and includes more commodity information linked using linkinformation, thereby transferring the matched tag applet to the NFCmobile terminal. The NFC mobile terminal receives the tag applet usingan NFC method, and outputs commodity information using a waked drivingapplet in the form of multimedia content.

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofa commodity information provision system 4000 according to a eighthembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13, the commodity information provision system 4000according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed in detail. The commodity information provision system 4000according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention includes anapparatus unit 4090 including a panel unit 4100 and an operation unit4200 and a server unit 4300. The commodity information provision system4000 according to the eighth embodiment is similar to the commodityinformation provision system 3000 according to the seventh embodiment.

The apparatus unit 4090 includes the panel unit 4100 and the operationunit 4200, and may be any one selected from among an NFC reader and amobile terminal, which is the same throughout the following description.

The commodity information provision system 4000 according to the eighthembodiment is different from the commodity information provision system3000 according to the seventh embodiment in that the panel unit 4100further includes a barcode scanner unit 4140 and the operation unit 4200further includes a barcode analysis unit 4260. Since the commodityinformation provision system 4000 according to the eighth embodiment isthe same as the commodity information provision system 3000 according tothe seventh embodiment except for reference numerals, redundantdescriptions will be omitted and only necessary descriptions will begiven.

The camera unit 4110 captures a QR code and applies the captured imageto both the output unit 4120 and the QR analysis unit 4210, and thebarcode scanner unit 4140 scans a barcode and applies the scanned imageto both the output unit 4120 and the barcode analysis unit 4260.

The barcode and the QR code are the same in the type and content ofinformation to be recorded, and are different in the amount ofinformation which can be recorded therein, as described above.

The configuration according to the eighth embodiment of the presentinvention has the advantage of converting commodity information,recorded in optical codes including a QR code and a barcode representedon the surface of a commodity, and commodity information, found usinglink information, into a tag applet and outputting the tag applet viathe NFC mobile terminal.

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofa commodity information provision system 5000 according to a ninthembodiment of the present invention.

Referring FIG. 14, the commodity information provision system 5000according to the ninth embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed in detail. The commodity information provision system 5000according to the ninth embodiment of the present invention includes anapparatus unit 5090 including a panel unit 5100 and an operation unit5200. The commodity information provision system 5000 according to theninth embodiment is partially the same as the commodity informationprovision system 4000 according to the eighth embodiment.

The apparatus unit 5090 includes the panel unit 5100 and the operationunit 5200, and may be any one selected from among an NFC reader and amobile terminal, which is the same throughout the following description.

Since the panel unit 5100 includes a camera unit 5110, an output unit5120, an NFC antenna unit 5130 and a barcode scanner unit 5140 and isthe same as the panel unit 4100 of the eighth embodiment except forreference numerals, a redundant description thereof will be omittedhere.

The operation unit 5200 includes a QR analysis unit 5210, a process unit5220, an NFC controller unit 5230, a tag applet recording unit 5240, anoutput control unit 5250, a barcode analysis unit 5260, and a tag appletissuance unit 5270.

The configuration of the operation unit 5200 according to the ninthembodiment is different from that of the operation unit 4200 accordingto the eighth embodiment in that the operation unit 5200 furtherincludes a tag applet issuance unit 5270 and the process unit 5220 isnot connected to a server unit.

That is, in the ninth embodiment, a server unit is not provided andinstead the functionality of the server unit is performed by the tagapplet issuance unit 5270 of the operation unit 5200, so that theadditional functionality of the process unit 5220 and the additionallyprovided tag applet issuance unit 5270 will now be described chiefly.

The process unit 5220 recognizes a QR code captured by the QR analysisunit 5210, and receives analyzed commodity data.

Furthermore, the process unit 5220 recognizes a barcode scanned by thebarcode analysis unit 5260, and receives analyzed commodity data.

The process unit 5220 transfers commodity information, received from theQR analysis unit 5210 and the barcode analysis unit 5260, to the tagapplet issuance unit 5270.

The commodity information according to the ninth embodiment isinformation that an optical code can include therein, and includes oneor more of the advertisement, manufacturer, vendor, release date,expiration date, price information, serial number, name and contactinformation of a corresponding commodity 1400. That is, since thecommodity information according to the ninth embodiment does not includeimage information and link information, the amount of information whichcan be provided may be relatively small.

The tag applet issuance unit 5270 converts the commodity data, appliedby the process unit 5220, into a tag applet, and applies the tag appletto both the NFC controller unit 5230 and the process unit 5220.

The NFC controller unit 5230 records the applied tag applet in theassigned area of the tag applet recording unit 5240, and provides theapplied tag applet if it is determined that the NFC mobile terminal 1500has tagged the NFC antenna unit 5130.

The process unit 5220 provides the tag applet, applied by the tag appletissuance unit 5270, to the output control unit 5250, thereby allowingthe tag applet to be output via the output unit 5120.

The configuration according to the ninth embodiment of the presentinvention has the advantages of converting commodity information,recorded in optical codes including a QR code and a barcode representedon the surface of a commodity, into a tag applet in the operation unititself, outputting the tag applet via the output unit in the form ofcontent and wirelessly providing the tag applet to the NFC mobileterminal to be output.

FIG. 15 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofa commodity information provision system 6000 according to a tenthembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 15, the commodity information provision system 6000according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed in detail. The commodity information provision system 6000according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention includes anapparatus unit 6090 including a panel unit 6100 and an operation unit6200 and a server unit 6300, and is partially the same as the commodityinformation provision system 5000 according to the ninth embodiment.

The apparatus unit 6090 includes the panel unit 6100 and the operationunit 6200, and may be any one selected from among an NFC reader and amobile terminal, which is the same throughout the following description.

Since the panel unit 6100 includes a camera unit 6110, an output unit6120, an NFC antenna unit 6130 and a barcode scanner unit 6140 and isthe same in configuration as the panel unit 5100 of the ninthembodiment, a redundant description thereof will be omitted and onlydescriptions necessary to describe the tenth embodiment will be given.

The operation unit 6200 includes a QR analysis unit 6210, a process unit6220, an NFC controller unit 6230, a tag applet recording unit 6240, anoutput control unit 6250, a barcode analysis unit 6260, and a tag appletissuance unit 6270.

The server unit 6300 includes a commodity information DB unit 6310 and atag applet issuance unit 6320, the commodity information DB unit 6310records a variety of commodity information linked using linkinformation, and the tag applet issuance unit 6320 converts commodityinformation into a tag applet.

Since the configuration of the operation unit 6200 of the tenthembodiment is different from the configuration of the operation unit5200 of the ninth embodiment in that the process unit 6220 directlyconnects to the NFC controller unit 6230 or connects to the NFCcontroller unit 6230 via the tag applet issuance unit 6270, differentand necessary descriptions will be given chiefly.

The process unit 6220 checks whether link information has been includedin the commodity data applied by the QR analysis unit 6210 by analyzingthe commodity data.

Here, the process unit 6220 checks whether link information is includedin the commodity data provided by the barcode analysis unit by analyzingthe commodity data.

It will be apparent that link information may be also included in abarcode.

The process unit 6220 analyzes commodity data applied by the QR analysisunit 6210 or barcode analysis unit 6260, separates link information ifthe link information has been included in the commodity data, andapplies (transfers) the link information to the server unit 6300.

That is, the process unit 6220 according to the tenth embodiment isdifferent from the process unit 5220 according to the ninth embodimentin that the function of checking whether link information has beenincluded, separating the link information and transferring the linkinformation to the server unit has been added to the function of theprocess unit 5220 according to the ninth embodiment.

Using a process of connecting to a path corresponding to linkinformation applied by the process unit 6220, the server unit 6300searches for corresponding commodity information from the commodityinformation DB unit 6310 and applies the found commodity information tothe tag applet issuance unit 6320.

The tag applet issuance unit 6320 converts the found and appliedcommodity information into a tag applet, and provides the commodityinformation to the process unit 6220 of the operation unit 6200.

The process unit 6220 directly applies (transfers) the tag applet,applied by the server unit 6300, to both the NFC controller unit 6230and the output control unit 6250.

Meanwhile, the process unit 6220 performs control so that the commodityinformation applied by the QR analysis unit 6210 is applied(transferred) to the tag applet issuance unit 6270 and then convertedinto a tag applet, the tag applet issuance unit 6270 applies (transfers)the tag applet, obtained by converting the commodity information, boththe NFC controller unit 6230 and the process unit 6220, and the processunit 6220 applies (transfers) the tag applet to the output control unit6250.

The NFC controller unit 6230 is different in that it includes thefunctionality described in conjunction with the ninth embodiment andadditionally receives the tag applets from both the tag applet issuanceunit 6270 and the process unit 6220. Since the configurations andfunctionalities of the tag applet recording unit 6240, the outputcontrol unit 6250, the QR analysis unit 6210 and the barcode analysisunit 6260 are the same as those of the ninth embodiment, redundantdescriptions thereof will be omitted here.

The configuration according to the tenth embodiment of the presentinvention converts commodity information, recorded on optical codesincluding a QR code and a barcode represented on the surface of acommodity, into a tag applet using the operation unit itself.

In particular, the configuration according to the tenth embodiment ofthe present invention has the advantage of additionally providing avariety and abundance of commodity information because the configurationdetects link information included in a QR code and a barcode, searchesfor corresponding commodity information from the server unit, convertsthe commodity information into a tag applet, and provides the tagapplet.

FIG. 16 is a signal flow diagram illustrating the operation of thecommodity information provision system according to the fifth embodimentof the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 16, the operation of the fifth embodiment will now bedescribed in detail based on the configuration of the eighth embodiment.

The NFC mobile terminal 1500 operates in card mode in its initial stage,and the operation unit 4200 operates in read mode in its initial stage.

An optical code of a commodity 1400 is scanned by bringing the opticalcode close to the panel unit 4100 at step ST5010, the panel unit 4100transfers the scanned optical code to the operation unit 4200, and theoperation unit recognizes the optical code and converts the optical codeinto commodity data at step ST5020.

The operation unit transmits the obtained commodity data to the serverunit at step ST5030, and the server unit checks whether link informationhas been included in commodity data by analyzing the commodity data atstep ST5040, makes a connection using the corresponding link informationif the link information has been included, and searches for commodityinformation at step ST5050.

The server unit converts the commodity data, applied by the operationunit, into a tag applet and issues the tag applet, converts thecommodity data and matched commodity information into a tag applet andissues the tag applet if the commodity information has been found usinga link at step ST5060, and transmits the tag applet to the operationunit at step ST5070.

The operation unit records the tag applet, transmitted by the serverunit, in an assigned area at step ST5080, checks whether the NFC mobileterminal 1500 has performed tagging by monitoring the panel unit, and,if the NFC mobile terminal 1500 has performed tagging at step ST5090,requests the NFC mobile terminal to search for AID information via thepanel unit and at the same time requests automatic mode-switching, andreceives corresponding results in the form of a response signal at stepST5100.

In this case, the NFC mobile terminal wakes up the driving applet andoperates the driving applet in an active state and switches from cardmode to read mode at step ST5110, and the operation unit switches fromread mode to card mode at step ST5120.

The operation unit which has switched to card mode transmits therecorded tag applet to the NFC mobile terminal via the panel unit using,for example, a frequency in the 13.56 MHz band, and the NFC mobileterminal returns a response signal indicative of reception without errorat step ST5130.

If it is determined that the tag applet has been transmitted withouterror, the operation unit deletes a record of the corresponding tagapplet at step ST5140, and the NFC mobile terminal outputs the commodityinformation by running the received tag applet at step ST5150.

The present invention has the advantage of downloading commodityinformation to the NFC mobile terminal in the form of content using anoptical code including a barcode or a QR code represented on a commodityand conveniently playing back and viewing the commodity informationanytime and anywhere.

FIG. 17 is a signal flow diagram illustrating the operation of thecommodity information provision system according to the sixth embodimentof the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 17, the operation of the commodity informationprovision system according to the sixth embodiment of the presentinvention will now be described based on the configuration of the eighthembodiment.

The operation of the commodity information provision system according tothe sixth embodiment of the present invention is different in that theinitial operating modes of the NFC mobile terminal 1500 and theoperation unit 4200 are not designated and set.

That is, the NFC mobile terminal 1500 and the operation unit 4200automatically switches between read mode and card mode.

Therefore, the operation of the commodity information provision systemaccording to the sixth embodiment is different from the operation of thecommodity information provision system according to the fifth embodimentin that the process of making a mode-switching request and transmittinga corresponding response signal is not required.

Only different descriptions will now be given.

In an initial stage, the NFC mobile terminal 1500 and the operation unit4200 operate in read mode or card mode, and automatically switchoperating mode every period of time which is freely set.

Since steps ST6010 to ST6090 in FIG. 17 are the same as steps ST5010 toST5090 in the operation of the fifth embodiment, redundant descriptionsthereof will be omitted here.

The operation unit 4200 monitors the panel unit 4100, and, if it isdetermined that the NFC mobile terminal 1500 has performed tagging,requests the NFC mobile terminal to search for AID information and thereceives AID information of search results in the form of a responsesignal at step ST6100.

The NFC mobile terminal wakes up the driving applet and operates thedriving applet in an active state, and activates the loop time of readmode and automatically switches to read mode at step ST6110.

The operation unit also activates the loop time of card mode andautomatically switches to card mode at step ST6120.

Furthermore, since steps ST6130 to ST6150 in FIG. 17 are the same assteps ST5130 to ST5150 in the operation of the fifth embodiment,redundant descriptions thereof will be omitted here.

The operation of the sixth embodiment has the advantage of the step ofprocessing signals being simplified because the NFC mobile terminal 1500and the operation unit 4200 do not exchange signals for mode-switching,thereby increasing processing speed.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an NFC tag generation device 20 and amobile terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention,and FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the configuration of an NFC taggeneration device 20 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 18, the NFC tag generation device 20 according to theembodiment of the present invention outputs content including a stillimage(s), a moving image(s) and/or music to the outside, and plays backthe content.

A user may bring the NFC communication-enabled NFC terminal 10 close tothe NFC tag generation device 20, and receive content including a stillimage(s), a moving image(s) or music in the form of tag data.

Referring to FIG. 19, the NFC tag generation device 20 for outputtingcontent to the outside and transmitting tag data to the NFC terminal 10includes an NFC controller unit 210, an operation control unit 220, amemory unit 230, a tag recording unit 240, a content output unit 250, anNFC antenna unit 260, and a communication interface unit 270.

The NFC tag generation device 20 may output one or more pieces ofcontent via the content output unit 250.

The content may include a medium (media) which can be played back, suchas a still image(s), such as a photo(s), a moving image(s) or music.

The content output unit 250 may receive a selection of content using theuser's manipulation or predetermined default setting.

For example, when the content output unit 250 is provided with a touchscreen and one or more pieces of content are alternately output atregular intervals, the user may transfer a command to select content tobe transmitted to the NFC terminal 10 in such a way as to touch thetouch screen.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the user doesnot directly transmit a selection command to the content output unit 250but brings the NFC terminal 10 close to the NFC tag generation device20, the tag generation device 20 detects a signal from the NFC terminal10.

Accordingly, specific content may be selected by predetermined defaultsetting without requiring a content selection command via the contentoutput unit 250.

The operation control unit 220 may search for tag data corresponding tocontent selected via the content output unit 250.

There are tag data which corresponds to each of one or more pieces ofcontent which are output to the outside via the content output unit 250.

Once the content has been selected via the content output unit 250, theoperation control unit 220 may detect a selected command signal andsearch for tag data corresponding to the content.

The NFC controller unit 210 may select transmission mode correspondingto the content selected by the content output unit 250.

The operation control unit 220 transmits a control signal requestingswitching to transmission mode corresponding to the selected content tothe NFC controller unit 210.

Methods of transmitting data using NFC communication may be classifiedinto card mode, P2P mode, and RW mode. The transmission method may varywith mode depending on the type of content, or all transmission methodsmay be used.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible touse a method in which mode-switching stops in corresponding transmissionmode when a transmission method corresponding to content is determinedin a mode polling state where card mode, P2P mode and RW mode arealternating.

The memory unit 230 may store content to be output to the outside andtag data corresponding to the content.

The memory unit 230 may store content-related data and tag data in itstag data DB unit and content DB unit, which may be constructed in theform of separate storage spaces.

The tag recording unit 240 may include one or more tag recording units,and may temporarily record the tag data of the NFC tag generation device20 to be transmitted to the outside.

The tag recording unit 240 may be included in one or more selected fromamong the NFC controller unit 210, the operation control unit 220, andthe memory unit 230.

In order to transmit tag data, corresponding to content selected by theuser, to the NFC terminal 10, the operation control unit 220 maytransfer a control signal, recording the corresponding tag data in thetag recording unit 240, to the NFC controller unit 210.

The NFC antenna unit 260 may transmit tag data to the NFCcommunication-enabled NFC terminal 10 using an NFC communication method.

When the user brings the NFC terminal 10 close to the NFC tag generationdevice 20 in order to receive selected content, the NFC tag generationdevice 20 transmits corresponding tag data via the NFC antenna unit 260in preset transmission mode.

The communication interface unit 270 may update information aboutcontent or tag data, stored in the memory unit 230, with informationabout new content or tag data.

For this purpose, the communication interface unit 270 may communicatewith another content or tag data provision server.

The communication interface unit 270 may include a communication devicewhich performs the functionality of a mobile communication terminal andcan connect to a mobile communication network.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an NFC tag transmission methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

At step S10, the NFC tag generation device 20 outputs content to theoutside, and receives a selection of content from a user.

The NFC generation device 20 may output one or more pieces of content tothe outside, and the user may select content to be received.

At step S20, the user requests tag data from the NFC tag generationdevice 20.

When the user selects desired content at step S10, a signal requestingtag data is automatically transmitted from the NFC tag generation device20.

At step S30, the setting of transmission mode corresponding to thecontent selected at step S10 is analyzed.

Methods of transmitting data using NFC communication may be classifiedinto card mode, P2P mode, and RW mode. The transmission method may varywith mode depending on the type of content, or all transmission methodsmay be used.

It is possible to use a method in which mode-switching stops incorresponding transmission mode when a transmission method correspondingto content is determined in a mode polling state where card mode, P2Pmode and RW mode are alternating.

At step S40, an application based on the transmission mode analyzed anddetermined at step S30 is run.

At step S50, tag data corresponding to the selected content is searchedfor.

At step S60, when the user brings the NFC terminal 10 close to the NFCtag generation device 20 in order to receive selected content, the NFCtag generation device 20 transmits corresponding tag data in thetransmission mode set at step S30.

Meanwhile, when the tag NFC terminal 10 is caused to tag the NFC taggeneration device 20 without inputting a command to select content tothe NFC tag generation device 20 at step S10, predetermined tag data maybe transmitted to the NFC terminal 10 in predetermined transmissionmode.

That is, when the NFC tag generation device 20 detects a signal for NFCcommunication because the NFC terminal 10 comes close to the NFC taggeneration device 20, content may be selected using a predeterminedmethod.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the tag NFCterminal 10 is caused to tag the NFC tag generation device 20 withoutinputting a command to select content to the NFC tag generation device20 at step S10, content at the time when the tagging is performed may beselected, and tag data corresponding to the content may be transmittedto the NFC terminal 10.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an NFC tag transmission methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

Since steps S100 to S300 are the same as steps S10 to S30 of FIG. 3,detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted here.

At step S400, tag data corresponding to selected content is searchedfor.

At step S500, the tag data found at step S400 is recorded in a separatestorage space.

At step S600, when the NFC terminal 10 is brought close to the NFC taggeneration device 20 in order to receive the content selected by theuser, the NFC tag generation device 20 transmits the tag data, stored inthe separate storage space, to the NFC terminal 10 in the transmissionmode set at step S30.

Meanwhile, when the tag NFC terminal 10 is caused to tag the NFC taggeneration device 20 without inputting a command to select content tothe NFC tag generation device 20 at step S100, predetermined tag datamay be transmitted to the NFC terminal 10 in predetermined transmissionmode.

That is, when the NFC tag generation device 20 detects a signal for NFCcommunication because the NFC terminal 10 comes close to the NFC taggeneration device 20, content may be selected using a predeterminedmethod.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the tag NFCterminal 10 is caused to tag the NFC tag generation device 20 withoutinputting a command to select content to the NFC tag generation device20 at step S100, content at the time when the tagging is performed maybe selected, and tag data corresponding to the content may betransmitted to the NFC terminal 10.

The embodiments of the present invention configured as described abovehas the advantage of repeatedly viewing the content of an advertisementand analyzing it over time when a user is far away from an advertisementmedium because the content of the advertisement can be provided andrecorded in the form of data by allowing a mobile terminal to tag anadvertisement output medium.

Furthermore, the embodiments of the present invention has the advantageof outputting a variety of types of advertisements as correspondingmultimedia information and providing them in the form of data using asingle output medium.

Meanwhile, the embodiments of the present invention has the advantage ofconveniently providing a variety of types of advertisement informationusing QR codes or barcodes.

Furthermore, the embodiments of the present invention has the advantageof recognizing an optical code including a barcode or a QR coderepresented on a commodity, converting commodity information, includedin the optical code, into an NFC tag applet and providing the NFC tagapplet to an NFC mobile terminal, thereby enabling a user to rapidlycheck accurate commodity information and to purchase optimum commoditiesbecause the present invention can.

Furthermore, the embodiments of the present invention has the advantageof receiving and recording content in the form of tag data using thetagging of a content output medium by a mobile terminal and allowing auser to repeatedly review the content when the user is far away from acontent medium and to analyze the content over time.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendisclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventionas disclosed in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An NFC-enabled apparatus comprising: a digitalinformation display; a camera; at least one memory configured to store aplurality of selectable pieces of information and a plurality of tagdata; and a near field communication (NFC) module comprising an NFCantenna and an NFC controller, wherein the NFC-enabled apparatus isconfigured: to capture an image using the camera, to process thecamera-captured image to obtain data relating to the camera-capturedimage, to send, to at least one server, the data relating to thecamera-captured image, to receive, from the at least one server, a firsttag datum corresponding to the data relating to the camera-capturedimage, and to store the first tag datum in the at least one memory aspart of the plurality of tag data, wherein the NFC-enabled apparatus isconfigured to display at least one of the selectable pieces ofinformation on the digital information display, wherein the NFC-enabledapparatus is configured to have a default setting for selecting apredetermined one of the selectable pieces of information in the absenceof a user selection of one of the selectable pieces of information,wherein, in response to a tagging between the NFC-enabled apparatus anda first external NFC-enabled terminal, and without a user selection ofone of the selectable pieces of information, the NFC-enabled apparatusis configured to cause a transfer of a tag datum corresponding to thepredetermined one of the selectable pieces of information from the NFCmodule to the first external NFC-enabled terminal via an NFCcommunication channel established between the NFC-enabled apparatus andthe first external NFC-enabled terminal, wherein the tag datumcorresponding to the predetermined one of the selectable pieces ofinformation comprises the first tag datum that corresponds to the datarelating to the camera-captured image.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein each of the selectable pieces of information corresponds to oneof the plurality of tag data.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thefirst tag datum is configured to cause the first external NFC-enabledterminal to communicate with the at least one server using the first tagdatum for receiving additional data related to the first tag datum. 4.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when the NFC-enabled apparatusreceives a user selection of one of the selectable pieces of informationthat is other than the predetermined one of the selectable pieces ofinformation, the NFC-enabled apparatus is configured: to display on thedigital information display an image corresponding to the user-selectedone of the selectable pieces of information, and to make a tag datumcorresponding to the selected one of the selectable pieces ofinformation available at the NFC module for NFC communication such thatthe tag datum is transferred to an external NFC-enabled terminal when anNFC tagging is made between the NFC-enabled apparatus and the externalNFC-enabled terminal, wherein the tag datum corresponding to theselected one of the selectable pieces of information comprises one ofthe plurality of tag data and does not comprise the first tag datum. 5.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the selectable pieces ofinformation corresponds to an image for displaying on the digitalinformation display, wherein the NFC-enabled apparatus is configured todisplay the image on the digital information display in response toselection of said each selectable piece of information.
 6. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the NFC-enabled apparatus is configured to display afirst image corresponding to the predetermined one of the selectablepieces of information on the digital information display while the firsttag datum is available at the NFC module.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the camera-captured image contains a management number and anexpiration date.
 8. An NFC-enabled apparatus comprising: a digitalinformation display; a camera; at least one memory configured to store aplurality of selectable pieces of information and a plurality of tagdata; and a near field communication (NFC) module comprising an NFCantenna and an NFC controller, wherein the NFC-enabled apparatus isconfigured: to capture an image using the camera, to process thecamera-captured image to obtain data relating to the camera-capturedimage, to send, to at least one server, the data relating to thecamera-captured image, to receive, from the at least one server, a firsttag datum corresponding to the data relating to the camera-capturedimage, and to store the first tag datum in the at least one memory aspart of the plurality of tag data, wherein the NFC-enabled apparatus isfurther configured: to display at least one of the selectable pieces ofinformation on the digital information display, to receive a userselection of a first one of the selectable pieces of information whilethe first selectable piece is displayed on the digital informationdisplay, and to make a tag datum corresponding to the first selectablepiece of information available at the NFC module for NFC communicationsuch that the tag datum is transferred to an external NFC-enabledterminal in response to an NFC tagging made between the NFC-enabledapparatus and the external NFC-enabled terminal, wherein the tag datumcorresponding to the first selectable piece of information comprises thefirst tag datum that corresponds to the data relating to thecamera-captured image.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at leastone memory is further configured to store a default setting configuredfor selecting a predetermined one of the selectable pieces ofinformation in the absence of a user selection of one of the selectablepieces of information.
 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the firsttag datum corresponding to the first selectable piece of information isconfigured to cause the first external NFC-enabled terminal tocommunicate with at least one server using the first tag datum forreceiving additional data related to the first tag datum.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one memory is furtherconfigured to store a default setting configured for selecting apredetermined one of the selectable pieces of information in the absenceof a user selection of one of the selectable pieces of information,wherein, when operating in a default mode according to the defaultsetting, in response to a tagging between the NFC-enabled apparatus anda first external NFC-enabled terminal, and without a user selection ofone of the selectable pieces of information, the NFC-enabled apparatusis configured to cause a tag datum corresponding to the predeterminedone of the selectable pieces of information to be transferred from theNFC module of the NFC-enabled apparatus to the first externalNFC-enabled terminal.
 12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein theNFC-enabled apparatus is configured to display a first imagecorresponding to the first selectable piece of information on thedigital information display in response to receiving the user selectionof the first selectable piece of information.
 13. A method of operatingthe NFC-enabled apparatus of claim 8, the method comprising: detectingan NFC tagging made between the NFC-enabled apparatus and a firstexternal NFC-enabled terminal without involving a selection of one ofthe selectable pieces of information; and subsequent to detecting theNFC tagging, causing the first tag datum to be transferred from the NFCmodule to the first external NFC-enabled terminal via an NFCcommunication channel established in response to the NFC tagging betweenthe NFC- enabled apparatus and the first external NFC-enabled terminal.14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: displaying two or moreof the selectable pieces of information including a first selectablepiece of information and a second selectable piece of information on thedigital information display; receiving a user selection of the secondselectable piece of information while the second selectable piece ofinformation is displayed on the digital information display; in responseto the user selection of the second selectable piece of information,displaying an image corresponding to the second selectable piece ofinformation on the digital information display to confirm the selectionof the second selectable piece of information; and subsequent to theuser selection of the second selectable piece of information, making asecond tag datum corresponding to the second selectable piece ofinformation available at the NFC module for NFC transmission.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the at least one memory is furtherconfigured to store a default setting configured for selecting apredetermined one of the selectable pieces of information in the absenceof a user selection of one of the selectable pieces of information. 16.The method of claim 13, wherein the first tag datum corresponding to thedata relating to the camera-captured image is configured to cause thefirst external NFC-enabled terminal to communicate with at least oneserver using the first tag datum for receiving additional data relatedto the first tag datum.
 17. A method of operating an NFC-enabledapparatus, the method comprising: providing an NFC-enabled apparatuscomprising: a digital information display, a camera, a near fieldcommunication (NFC) module comprising an NFC antenna and an NFCcontroller, and at least one memory configured to store a plurality ofselectable pieces of information, wherein the NFC-enabled apparatus isconfigured to display at least part of the selectable pieces ofinformation on the digital information display, capturing an image usingthe camera of the NFC-enabled apparatus; processing the camera-capturedimage to obtain data relating to the camera-captured image; sending thedata relating to the camera-captured image to at least one server;receiving, from the at least one server, a first tag datum correspondingto the data relating to the camera-captured image; storing the first tagdatum in the at least one memory; subsequently, detecting an NFC taggingmade between the NFC-enabled apparatus and a first external NFC-enabledterminal without a user selection of one of the selectable pieces ofinformation; and subsequent to detecting the NFC tagging, causing thefirst tag datum corresponding to the data relating to thecamera-captured image to be transferred from the NFC antenna to thefirst external NFC-enabled terminal via an NFC communication channelestablished in response to the NFC tagging between the NFC-enabledapparatus and the first external NFC-enabled terminal.
 18. The method ofclaim 17, wherein the at least one memory is further configured to storea default setting for selecting a predetermined one of the selectablepieces of information in the absence of a user selection of one of theselectable pieces of information, wherein detecting the NFC taggingwithout a user selection causes the predetermined one of the selectablepieces of information to be selected in accordance with the defaultsetting.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the at least one memory isfurther configured to store a plurality of tag data, wherein each of theselectable pieces of information corresponds to one of the plurality oftag data.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein each of the selectablepieces of information corresponds to an image for displaying on thedigital information display in response to selection of said eachselectable piece of information.
 21. The method of claim 17, wherein thefirst tag datum corresponding to the data relating to thecamera-captured image is configured to cause the first externalNFC-enabled terminal to communicate with at least one server using thefirst tag datum for receiving additional data related to the first tagdatum.
 22. The method of claim 17, wherein the at least one memory isfurther configured to store a default setting for selecting apredetermined one of the selectable pieces of information in the absenceof a user selection of one of the selectable pieces of information,wherein the first tag datum corresponding to the data relating to thecamera-captured image further corresponds to the predetermined one ofthe selectable pieces of information.
 23. The method of claim 22,wherein the method further comprises receiving acknowledgement of thefirst external NFC-enabled terminal's receipt of the first tag datum,wherein the first external NFC-enabled terminal communicates with the atleast one server using the first tag datum for receiving additional datarelated to the first tag datum from the at least one server.
 24. Themethod of claim 22, wherein, subsequent to the NFC tagging betweenNFC-enabled apparatus and the first external NFC-enabled terminal, andwithout a user selection of one of the selectable pieces of information,the digital information display displays an image corresponding to thepredetermined one of the selectable pieces of information.
 25. Themethod of claim 22, wherein the camera-captured image contains amanagement number and an expiration date.
 26. The method of claim 17,further comprising: displaying at least two of the selectable pieces ofinformation including a first selectable piece of information and asecond selectable piece of information on the digital informationdisplay; receiving a user selection of the second selectable piece ofinformation while the second selectable piece of information isdisplayed on the digital information display; in response to the userselection of the second selectable piece of information, displaying animage corresponding to the second selectable piece of information on thedigital information display to confirm the selection of the secondselectable piece of information; and subsequent to the user selection ofthe second selectable piece of information, making a second tag datumcorresponding to the second selectable piece of information available atthe NFC module for NFC transmission.
 27. The method of claim 26, whereinthe at least one memory is further configured to store a default settingconfigured for selecting a predetermined one of the selectable pieces ofinformation in the absence of a user selection of one of the selectablepieces of information.
 28. The method of claim 17, wherein the at leastone memory is further configured to store a default setting forselecting a predetermined one of the selectable pieces of information inthe absence of a user selection of one of the selectable pieces ofinformation, wherein the first tag datum corresponding to the datarelating to the camera-captured image further corresponds to thepredetermined one of the selectable pieces of information, wherein thefirst tag datum is configured to cause the first external NFC-enabledterminal to communicate with at least one server using the first tagdatum for receiving additional data related to the first tag datum. 29.A method of operating an NFC-enabled apparatus, the method comprising:providing an NFC-enabled apparatus comprising: a digital informationdisplay, a camera, a near field communication (NFC) module comprising anNFC antenna and an NFC controller, and at least one memory configured tostore a plurality of selectable pieces of information, wherein theNFC-enabled apparatus is configured to display at least part of theselectable pieces of information on the digital information display,capturing an image using the camera; processing the camera-capturedimage to obtain data relating to the camera- captured image; sending, toat least one server, the data relating to the camera-captured image;receiving, from the at least one server, a first tag datum correspondingto the data relating to the camera-captured image; subsequent toreceiving the first tag datum, in response to an NFC tagging between theNFC-enabled apparatus and an external NFC-enabled terminal, causing thefirst tag datum corresponding to the data relating to thecamera-captured image to be transmitted from the NFC module of theNFC-enabled apparatus to the external NFC-enabled terminal; furthersubsequent to receiving the first tag datum, displaying, on the digitalinformation display, at least two selectable pieces of informationincluding a first selectable piece of information and a secondselectable piece of information; receiving a user selection of thesecond selectable piece of information while the second selectable pieceof information is displayed on the digital information display; inresponse to the user selection of the second selectable piece ofinformation, displaying an image corresponding to the second selectablepiece of information on the digital information display to confirm theselection of the second selectable piece of information; and subsequentto the user selection of the second selectable piece of information,making a second tag datum corresponding to the second selectable pieceof information available at the NFC module for NFC transmission.
 30. Asystem for NFC communication, the system comprising: the NFC-enabledapparatus of claim 1; and the external NFC-enabled terminal configuredfor NFC communication with the NFC-enabled apparatus.
 31. An NFC-enabledsystem comprising: a camera; at least one memory configured to store aplurality of selectable pieces of information and a plurality of tagdata; a plurality of information displays comprising a first informationdisplay and a second information display, each of which is configured todisplay at least one of the selectable pieces of information; aplurality of NFC antenna comprising a first NFC antenna and a second NFCantenna, each of which is configured to transmit tag data; wherein theNFC-enabled system is configured: to capture an image using the camera,to process the camera-captured image to obtain data relating to thecamera-captured image, to send, to at least one server, the datarelating to the camera- captured image, to receive, from the at leastone server, a first tag datum corresponding to the data relating to thecamera-captured image, and to store the first tag datum in the at leastone memory as part of the plurality of tag data, wherein the NFC-enabledsystem is further configured: to display at least one of the selectablepieces of information on at least one of the plurality of informationdisplays, and to make available at least one of the plurality of tagdata corresponding to the at least one selectable piece of informationdisplayed on the at least one information display such that the at leastone tag datum is transmitted to an external NFC-enabled terminal inresponse to an NFC tagging made between the NFC-enabled system and theexternal NFC- enabled terminal, wherein the first information displayand the first NFC antenna are configured to be paired for synchronizedoperation as a first pair of hardware such that the first pair ofhardware is configured to make the first tag datum made available at thefirst NFC antenna while a first one of the selectable pieces ofinformation corresponding to the first tag datum is displayed on thefirst information display in response to a user selection of the firstselectable piece of information and further such that the first pair ofhardware is configured to transmit the first tag datum from the firstNFC antenna to an external NFC-enabled terminal in response to an NFCtagging made between the first pair of hardware and the externalNFC-enabled terminal while the first tag datum is available at the firstNFC antenna, wherein the second information display and the second NFCantenna are configured to be paired for synchronized operation as asecond pair of hardware such that the second pair of hardware isconfigured to make a second tag datum available at the second NFCantenna while a second one of the selectable pieces of informationcorresponding to the second tag datum is displayed on the secondinformation display in response to a user selection of the secondselectable piece of information and further such that the second pair ofhardware is configured to transmit the second tag datum from the secondNFC antenna to an external NFC-enabled terminal in response to an NFCtagging made between the second pair of hardware and the externalNFC-enabled terminal while the second tag datum is available at thesecond NFC antenna, wherein the NFC-enabled system is configured to haveat least one default setting for selecting a predetermined one of theselectable pieces of information without a user selection of any of theselectable pieces of information, wherein, in response to a taggingbetween the first pair of hardware and an external NFC-enabled terminal,and without a user selection of any of the selectable pieces ofinformation, the NFC-enabled system is configured to select one of theplurality of tag data corresponding to the predetermined one of theselectable pieces of information according to the at least one defaultsetting for transmission from the first NFC antenna to the externalNFC-enabled terminal.
 32. The system of claim 31 wherein each ofplurality of tag data corresponds to one of the selectable pieces ofinformation.
 33. The system of claim 31, wherein the first tag datum isconfigured to cause the external NFC-enabled terminal receiving thefirst tag datum to communicate with the at least one server using thefirst tag datum for receiving additional data related to the first tagdatum.
 34. The system of claim 31, wherein the second tag datumcomprises a tag datum received from the at least one server andcorresponding to data relating to another image captured by the camera.35. The system of claim 31, wherein each of the selectable pieces ofinformation is for selection while being displayed on one of theplurality of information displays.
 36. The system of claim 31, whereinthe camera-captured image contains a management number and an expirationdate.